Download

Published

Journal

Author(s)

Share

Metadata

Abstract

Following years of civil war that ended
in 2002, Sierra Leone has pursued a policy of
decentralization, devolving responsibility for many
government functions to the Local Council level. The aims of
this policy include achieving a more equitable and inclusive
access to public services across the national territory, in
part to alleviate regional inequities that contributed to
the civil war. The implementation of the decentralization
policy has faced many obstacles, however, including the need
to rebuild local government institutions and capacity after
30 years of centrally dominated governance; the limited
devolution of financial resources; and multifaceted
political economy hurdles. This report, first, analyzes the
current state of decentralization in Sierra Leone; second,
identifies the most prominent challenges to continued
decentralization; and, third, discusses options for the way
forward. The report draws on qualitative and quantitative
data collected from both central and local government
stakeholders, and takes the perspective that
decentralization and strengthened local governance
institutions are an effective means to localize development
and improve the effective and equitable delivery of key
public services. The study focuses on progress to date and
standing challenges in four key areas of analysis: fiscal
decentralization, human resource decentralization, ensuring
inclusivity and accountability in local governance, and
ensuring efficiency and responsiveness in service delivery.